Alliance Data Systems Co. (NYSE:ADS) – Stock analysts at William Blair issued their Q1 2019 earnings estimates for Alliance Data Systems in a report issued on Monday, October 15th. William Blair analyst R. Napoli anticipates that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $4.55 for the quarter. William Blair also issued estimates for Alliance Data Systems’ Q2 2019 earnings at $5.30 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $6.72 EPS and Q4 2019 earnings at $8.73 EPS.

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Alliance Data Systems (NYSE:ADS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 18th. The business services provider reported $6.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.19 by $0.07. Alliance Data Systems had a return on equity of 59.18% and a net margin of 11.35%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ADS. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Alliance Data Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Alliance Data Systems in a research note on Friday. ValuEngine downgraded Alliance Data Systems from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $280.00 target price on shares of Alliance Data Systems in a research note on Tuesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank set a $253.00 price objective on Alliance Data Systems and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.74.

Shares of ADS opened at $216.18 on Thursday. Alliance Data Systems has a 52-week low of $192.02 and a 52-week high of $278.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.25, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 2.12.

Alliance Data Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, July 30th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 13th. Alliance Data Systems’s payout ratio is 12.47%.

In related news, EVP Bryan A. Pearson sold 3,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.67, for a total transaction of $793,238.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles L. Horn sold 16,035 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.58, for a total value of $3,729,420.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,672,255.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ValueAct Holdings L.P. boosted its holdings in Alliance Data Systems by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. now owns 6,082,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,418,473,000 after acquiring an additional 205,246 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Alliance Data Systems by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,164,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $737,931,000 after acquiring an additional 48,926 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Alliance Data Systems by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,595,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $605,293,000 after acquiring an additional 809,427 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments CA boosted its holdings in Alliance Data Systems by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Parnassus Investments CA now owns 1,245,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,334,000 after acquiring an additional 370,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Alliance Data Systems by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 768,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $179,126,000 after acquiring an additional 192,056 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.74% of the company’s stock.